Tuesday, November 15, 2022

          Titus was a young pastor who had been charged with spreading the gospel and building disciples for Christ on the island of Crete.  Paul wrote a three-chapter letter to Titus to encourage him in the work that had to be done.  One of Paul’s main themes was doing good works.  To be sure, Titus does not teach or embrace a message of salvation by good works.  For example, Paul wrote, “he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:5-7).  Though not saved by good works, we are saved to do what is good and to serve the gospel.  We often have the ability to introduce others to Christ because we have been able to bless their lives in some sort of tangible way by what we have done.
            In Titus 2, Paul wrote about the roles and duties of various groups of individuals like older men and women, younger men and women and slaves.  The principle behind this instruction was doing what was good.  Good was defined as being self-controlled, maintaining order and godliness in the home, integrity, sound speech, purity, kindness, embracing the Word of God and rejecting ungodliness and worldly passions.  A well-timed word for us today is Titus 3:9. We read, “But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless.”  We can easily get drawn into foolishness—foolish conversations and controversy that are not worth the time or breath that we spend pursuing them.  These fruitless endeavors can easily draw us away from the greater things that God would have us to pursue.
            We all have a relatively short period of time on earth to live and to serve the Lord as He calls us to do.  That time is running out as the days go by.  We want to ensure that we are using our days to do what is good and to bless those God may put before us.  Paul gave a final admonition to Titus in 3:14. We find, “Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order to provide for urgent needs and not live unproductive lives.”  Paul says we have to learn to devote ourselves to what is good.  By nature, we usually do not do such things.  We have to learn how to devote our time and lives to the things that matter most in life.  Influence others in a godly way, be eager to share the gospel, do what is good, lean on the Lord.  Again, these activities are not naturally wired into us.  But the Holy Spirit can help us to make them mainstays in our lives each day.
            While we wait for Christ, Titus shows us the good and worthy things that we can do.  Waiting for the Lord’s return is not a navel-gazing or sky-gazing endeavor.  We are to do what the Lord has given us to do so that when He does come again, He finds that we are faithful to Him and His assignments.  One way we can sow seeds of goodness is by supporting the Cabarrus Women’s Center this coming Sunday as we bring our donations to benefit new moms and moms-to-be who might need our help in carrying for their children.  Let’s be both good and generous in our support.  Have a great Tuesday and remember you can worship every day at youtube.com/FirstBaptistKannapolis.